SO WE'RE FINALLY HERE. The sports fest arc has officially ended and we're in the interregnum between this arc and the next. Which means MAJOR PLOT DEVELOPMENT TIME.
Irritatingly I can't link to some awesome as heck fanart I got, but go check out Moonpaw and deuynn on tumblr and just go give them a ton of support for the awesomeness they draw.
ANYWAYS, moving on, time for the chapter WOO!
They had given him strange looks when he had come asking for her. Looks of shock, of disbelief, with one nurse even asking if he was sure it was her he wanted to see, double-checking to make sure he had the name right.
Shoto was sure. He had never been so sure of anything in his life, despite the undercurrent of fearful nerves that fluttered within him.
The hospital was a private one, well kept, with generous donations from his father's agency. Of course, it was. It served multiple people, but it was truly only there to keep one woman locked within its walls.
His mother. The woman who had raised him, who had comforted him in times of fear and pain, and who had tried to murder him in his sleep, rescued only at the last second by an older brother whose face he could barely recall.
All he remembered was her screaming, his father's rage, flashes of orange and blue and noise and fear, so much fear.
And then, as she had vanished, he knew it had been his father who had sent her away. His mother who was never truly in her right mind, not with the level of cruelty that his father had doted out to her.
His mother, who he had ignored and all but forgotten about in his single-minded hatred of his father.
His mother… who he now wished to see for the first time in years.
His hand hovered over the handle of the door, and for a moment, an age-old fear curled in his stomach. He had no idea what she would say or even if she would talk to him at all. Would she react badly to his presence? Would she even attempt to murder him again?
Shoto's hand moved back slowly, maybe this wasn't a good idea. Maybe this was a terrible idea. Maybe he should-
'Who your father is, what blood is in your veins, what power that gives you, it means nothing, all that matters is how you use it! It doesn't belong to anybody else, just you!'
Hitoshi Shinsou's words bounced around the inside of his skull like a misfired cannonball. He had been absolutely crazy to throw away his chance of victory like that, and yet, from what he knew of the teenager it shouldn't have surprised him.
Hell, he should have known Hitoshi would shout something like 'I like you' at him at the opening of their match.
The sad thing was that no one had ever spoken those words at him. Not once, not in all his years, or if they had, it had been so long the words had faded from his memory. He wondered what Hitoshi had even meant by them, as Shoto had no idea. All he knew was that thinking of them made his head feel funny and his heart feel awkward. No wonder he had opened his mouth and gasped in shock.
It was almost funny, considering they had been through so much together already.
He remembered being dropped into the Hell that was the USJ together. How, despite being beaten to a pulp by thugs and criminals, Hitoshi hadn't considered giving up for a second. Even when they had heard that scream that had torn at some wound in Shoto's soul, a wound he never even knew he had, Hitoshi had insisted they go stop Nemesis.
He had been bleeding from his nose, his eye, his mouth and was sporting several broken bones, and yet he had insisted.
So much reckless bravery, almost to the point of stupidity.
And yet here was Shoto, scared to talk to his own mother.
He frowned, gathered his nerves, and pushed open the door.
The room was far lighter than he had ever expected. Soft pastel colors adorned every surface and there were a variety of plants alongside an open window, to which a curtain swished softly in a calming breeze. Along the walls, carved from wood, were simple symbols depicting the varying religions of the world.
A woman was sat at the window. A woman who turned suddenly, though not sharply, to look to the unexpected visitor. A woman with slim features, tired eyes of amber glass brown, and a cascade of white hair that crashed upon her shoulders.
For a second, the air seemed colder somehow, despite the open summer sun shining through the window.
And then, as if carried on the sun's rays itself, it warmed back up again.
"S-Shoto?"
"Hey, mom," Shoto almost felt the words strangle in his throat.
"Shoto," The smile that formed on her face broke down the walls of ice around his heart, and before he knew it, he had stepped forward into the room and into her embrace.
Her touch was chilled, but he didn't care. At that moment, all the old anger he had towards his father, towards the world that allowed him to exist and get away with his crimes, fell away.
There was only that room, with his mother who he loved, and missed, and the future of slow, gradual healing that lay ahead of him.
He had his father's blood in his veins, but that did not make him his father.
And quietly, there in his mother's arms, he vowed to make right all his wrongs. No matter how long it took.
She pulled back enough so that she could once again look him in the eyes, then she smiled sadly and said, "Sit down, son, we have a lot to talk about."
"I still feel bad for Ibara," Izuku mused as his eyes followed a couple walking, hand in hand, past their little group, "I mean-"
"I will give you a yellow card if you continue."
"I'm not talking about anything sad!" The teenager quipped back, "I'm just saying, y'know, in general!"
It was a hot, sunny, summer day and Izuku had planned to spend the entirety of it sitting in his dark room, doing nothing and letting his wounds heal. His arm still spiked with a nasty bite of pain every now and then, especially if he bumped it on something. At least by weekend's end he'd be out of the sling.
But fate, or rather, Ochaco, had other plans.
Via the group chat, she had demanded that they all have a post-festival day of fun and relaxation together. A concept which was still slightly foreign to Izuku, despite the appeal of it. At first, he had thought that they would be meeting at someone's house, however, she had further continued to insist they all go somewhere, like a mall, or a park.
She had used the term 'hang out'. Izuku had never 'hung out' anywhere in his entire life and had been almost overcome with nerves at the very idea. What if he didn't hang out well enough? Would they get mad at him? What if he had nothing to talk about and they all realized what a weird, creepy loser he was? What if-
No, no these were his friends, and besides, his mother had been acting a little weird since he had come back from the festival and he was sure giving her some space might be a good thing.
She had been… a little clingy, giving him more hugs than usual, and talking about celebrating his success in the festival. Not that he didn't appreciate the effort, it was just… he could tell it was masking something. Something he wasn't sure he wanted to know, not that he was even sure he'd get the truth from her anyway.
And so, with agreements coming in from the others and a time set, Izuku had gone out to meet his friends.
The train ride had been a little awkward as at one point three girls, dressed entirely in black gothic Lolita outfits, seemed to have recognized him from the festival and had begun trying to talk to him about his 'demonic blessings'.
He was glad that he had to only suffer them for two stops before switching trains.
Once they had met up, the first thing they had done was to go get ice cream, yet as they were waiting in line, Ochaco had quickly announced, with Tenya nodding at her side, that there would be no talk of anything sad or upsetting, which also included any demon talk. This was going to be an easy day, a day for "chillaxing and relaxing" as Ochaco had put it.
As if to emphasize her point, she had pulled out two yellow cards and a red card out of her Thirteen-themed tote bag and showed them to the others.
"Talk about sad stuff and you get a yellow card. If you get a red card you have to buy everyone lunch."
The threat alone was enough to make the others laugh and agree, though Izuku had decided to take it seriously.
She was right, he did need a day to unwind.
Though it was still hard to do so with everything weighing on his mind, along with a lifetime of being so hyper-anxious and tense that any other setting was just… not Izuku. Hence why his mind kept wandering back over to all the bad things in his life.
Hence the mumblings about Ibara.
Ochaco wagged her popsicle at him. "You're on thin ice, mister."
She was dressed in some light summer clothes with a large pair of sunglasses on, while Tenya dressed in his usual slacks and polo-shirt attire. Izuku, Fumikage and Hitoshi, however, were all dressed in darker shades, with Hitoshi and Fumikage even wearing black t-shirts each sporting different, but certainly gothic, logos.
Izuku wore black cargo shorts and a dark green shirt with a logo on the back depicting a shield with blue and white wings crossed over it. As if in weird contrast, however, he wore a pair of red sandals on his feet. They were cheaper than buying new shoes, and he could tell his mother was starting to get a little annoyed at how quickly he was going through them. That and, as of yesterday, they were practically his last pair of footwear.
His mother had even suggested since he was going out shopping for the first time ever he could go looking for some more fire-resistant shoes as surely in this day and age they had to sell some somewhere. They'd managed to find shorts that fit around his tail, after all, though she had asked repeatedly if they really had to be black.
Izuku blamed Hitoshi and Fumikage both for his slow move towards wearing darker clothing. He had never been one to dress brightly, but he had never veered into the more angsty, rebellious teenager look before meeting them.
And yet it did seem to please Nemesis, who always seemed to enjoy anything that made them embrace the shadow they truly belonged too.
They were currently walking the busy streets of Tokyo. Not Tokyo-Tokyo of course, because that would be insane, they would barely be able to move through the streets if that was the case. No, this was further on the outskirts of the city, which was populated by more artsy shops without it feeling touristy or too busy.
Still, the bustling streets were a source of light anxiety for Izuku, as so many people around him constantly set off little strings of candle-flame across his scars and as such he was glad he had his group of friends with him. The air was filled with the smell of fresh food stalls and, from somewhere he couldn't see, the heavy scent of flowers. The sun was warm and welcoming, adding to the feeling of a good, proper summer's day, the kind one took for granted in youth and missed in adulthood when one was stuck behind a desk.
"I get what you're saying," Hitoshi announced as he licked at his orange blossom ice cream, "But that's got nothing to do with you. At all." He shrugged and added, "I mean yeah, it's shitty, but what are you going to do? Give her a big hug? I'm sure she'd love that. Best thing for any of us to do is stay out of her way."
"Which is terrible, but true," Fumikage agreed, "She views us as the enemy, you especially," And he gave Izuku a quick nod, "Space for you both will serve us all for the best."
"She can go rot for all we care," Nemesis hissed through Izuku's brain, causing the boy to frown in irritation, "Damned Evangelist. One day we will have our revenge."
Nemesis still hadn't gotten over their robbed victory, which Izuku knew it would crow about for days to come.
"All of you get a yellow card," Ochaco quickly announced, drawing said card from her bag with her free hand, "That's your first warning!"
Hitoshi chuckled and held up a free hand, "Alright, alright!"
"Well, for some good news at least," Tenya announced with a genuine smile, "My brother told me even though I did, ahem, poorly in the last rounds of the festival, he still intends to give me a place in the Ideten agency for my internship."
"That sounds like nepotism," Hitoshi slyly accused with a wagging finger.
"It is not nepotism! It's simply my brother making sure I get the best internship I can!"
"In the agency he runs," Ochaco quickly added.
"A blood relation giving you a lift up?" Fumikage mused, hiding a smile behind his chocolate ice cream with sprinkles on top, "Sounds highly suspicious if you ask me."
Izuku simply shrugged and gave him a 'well?' kind of expression.
Tenya paused, then looked aside, a sudden flush running across his cheeks, "… well maybe it's a little nepotism, but really!" He turned back and made a chopping motion with his hand, "It's too great an opportunity to miss! And besides, I intend to take over the agency myself one day, it's only right I intern there!"
The others laughed and even Izuku cracked a wide, sharp-toothed grin as his tail swished in joy, despite the flush of candle-fire that prickled his scars and the bite of pain that came from his injured arm as a result.
"Who will take us on?" Nemesis suddenly whispered through his mind, "We wonder…"
Izuku had to admit he had been putting those kinds of thoughts off since the festival had started. Sharply, however, he was being reminded that in no time at all, they'd be off on their internships, which means putting his power to use in public. A concept he was not exactly comfortable on any level whatsoever.
"I'm looking forward to mine, I mean, I think I know what I wanna do," Ochaco mused for a second as she crunched at the end of her popsicle, "I think I'm going to go with a combat-focused agency."
"Why?" Tenya asked suddenly, "I thought you wished to go into rescue work?"
"Yeah, but I mean," Ochaco paused again, her eyes focused away from the others, "After my fight with Katsuki I kinda- I mean- I feel like if I could fight better maybe I could, I dunno, think differently, I guess?"
"Oh, I get it," Izuku piped up and moved to get to her side, "You can be a rescue hero, but knowing a different use of your quirk could help you in different situations, right?"
"Right!" Ochaco smiled suddenly and looked to Izuku with a wide grin, "Like, I can lift heavy things from people easy, but I can also kick butt when I need to!"
"Admirable," Fumikage nodded slowly before going back to his own iced treat. The teenager looked tired, though he managed to hide it well enough.
Izuku suspected he'd not had the most pleasant of nights dealing with Dark Shadow, and no doubt he was glad of the 'no demon talk' rule. Secretly he was eager to know why Dark Shadow's clone had cried out like it had, but Ochaco's rule held, and perhaps it was a good thing they lay off the mysteries of the underworld for the time being.
After all, it wasn't just Izuku who had to constantly deal with its insane nonsense.
"What about you guys?" Ochaco asked suddenly, "Who are you aiming for?"
Hitoshi shrugged as he tried to stop his ice cream from dripping onto his fingers, "Whoever I can get, probably one of the underground agencies. My quirk is best used by surprise after all," He twitched a smile, "And I can't really get the drop on people if everyone knows my name."
"If you're trying to be the number one hero, everyone will know your name," Fumikage teased dryly.
Hitoshi paused with a finger held up to argue before nodding in defeat, "You've got me there," However, he quickly turned the conversation around, "What about you, Corvus Corax?"
Fumikage frowned for a moment at the taller teenager before looking up in thought, "I'm not sure. I quit out of the third stage, so I don't imagine I will gain many offers. I suppose I will take whatever comes my way and trust in fate, despite how cruelly it has treated me."
"Warning," Ochaco scolded quickly.
"Izuku!" Tenya cut in suddenly, "What about you? Where do you see yourself going?"
"To someone strong," Nemesis hissed through the meat of his brain, "To one who can earn our respect. To one who can show us how to destroy our enemies with ruthless efficiency so we can gain bloody vengeance on our foes."
"I…" Izuku found the words were caught on the end of his tongue. Who the hell would ever take him in? This problem child who danced on the knife-edge of good and evil? Who had a power that clearly wished to kill and destroy everything it came across?
Whoever he went to would have their hands full, or even worse, thought they could somehow 'change' him into being better. He was training almost daily under the leadership of some of the strongest, most talented heroes in the world and even they found him a hassle to deal with.
He had already been nervous about his internship before, but now that it was pressing on him, he was becoming increasingly convinced it would, like many things in his life, end in failure.
He masked his wayward thoughts with few casual licks of his own ice cream and allowed the cool chill of the treat melting in his mouth to refocus his thoughts. "I dunno," He admitted at last, not meeting the gazes of his friends, "Whoever I can get, I suppose?"
"You didn't do too terribly in the festival," Hitoshi mused as the group came to stand at a stoplight, "All considering."
"Considering we were robbed."
"Hashtag-devilboiwasrobbed," Izuku mumbled out before going back to his ice cream again whilst he felt his tail flick in annoyance. "But I dunno, I mean, yeah, I guess I'll lean towards a hero who uses a fire quirk, maybe. Someone who can help me control the flame would be really helpful."
There was a round of nods from the others, with Fumikage adding, "A wise choice."
It didn't fill Izuku with any particular confidence but at least his friends backed his rather lame idea. A flame hero. There were plenty of them knocking around, and perhaps if he was lucky one would be kind enough to take him on. If he was really lucky, maybe he could go from being mostly useless to only slightly useless.
He pushed the thought back for now, refocusing on Ochaco's command of trying to be happy for a change.
As always, he would leave tomorrow's problems to tomorrow's Izuku.
"Do girls always do this?" Hitoshi asked as he looked over to the other boys, "I mean, I'm not into girls, really, so-?"
"Don't look at me," Izuku put his hands up in defense, "I don't know what girls do!"
"The mysteries of the opposite sex are many and varied," Fumikage spoke with a sage nod of his head, "No man may ever know them all."
"This is the fifth store already," Tenya spoke with a rather tired tone, "I'm starting to wonder if the only reason she made us come out was to drag us around this shopping center."
"Well she did say her parents gave her some money for doing well in the festival," Izuku added with another unsure smile, "Though, usually, she's all about saving it. I guess they pushed her into actually splurging on herself for a change."
The four boys sat on a small wall that ringed a number of flowers and trees planted within the middle of the large shopping center. Above them, the hot sun beamed down through crystal clear glass windows, though they didn't feel overheated. Thankfully the inside of the building was nice and cool, which was refreshing as they had wandered behind Ochaco for most of the day.
She had insisted she had a reason for it, despite the fact that, as Izuku had pointed out, she was usually quite against spending money. Ochaco was thrifty to a fault and yet something seemed to have sparked in her that the other boys were simply at mercy to.
"… hey, question," Izuku suddenly mused as adjusted the strap of his sling, brought to mind by nothing other than the fact that Hitoshi had brought up that he wasn't into girls. "So, what's the deal with you and Shoto?"
Hitoshi went a very particular shade of red, "What?"
"Ah, so, the spark is still there, I see," Fumikage slyly chuckled from Hitoshi's side, "I too was wondering about that."
"Look, there's no spark," Hitoshi quickly went to cover, "I mean, I'm pretty sure he barely knows I exist."
"You made him use his flame in the festival," Tenya announced, "I'm no expert in romance, but that does sound like something one would remember."
Hitoshi went even redder, "Dude! Shut up!"
"His affection for the Ice Prince is embarrassing," Nemesis growled out from within Izuku's brain, "It's a weakness."
"Hum, yes, I agree, Nemesis," Izuku nodded to himself, planting a fixed expression upon his face as his tail curled up behind his head, "We should ask Shoto out for him."
"Okay, Nemesis did not say that!"
"We did not say that!"
"Nemesis has had a good idea for once," Fumikage nodded sagely, "Well, I suppose a light does occasionally shine in the darkness."
"We will rip his beak off!"
"We shouldn't get involved in his love life!" Tenya spoke, having missed the joke entirely, "When and where he asks Shoto out is entirely his decision!"
"Will you all shut up!" Snapped the increasingly annoyed, and increasingly red-looking Hitoshi, "Next person to speak gets brainwashed!"
"Nemesis wants to know when the wedding is," Izuku shot off before he could even stop his own mouth, "It's got a soft spot for weddings."
"We do not!" Nemesis roared within Izuku's blood, sending fire along his scars, "Weddings are pointless!"
Before Hitoshi could make good on his threat, if he was ever going to make good on his threat at all, there was a sudden cry from the store they had been facing, "Guys! Guys! I got it!"
They collectively turned to see Ochaco jogging towards them waving what seemed to be a bottle of nail polish. Black nail polish.
The boys paused in their mockery of Hitoshi's delicate feelings to stare at the girl as she jogged up closer, grinning widely, "I knew it was on sale somewhere! I got a huge discount! And it's the color I wanted!"
They looked to one another for a moment before Hitoshi took the opportunity to escape his apparent punishment from the others and nod, "Well, that's great, Ochaco, now where-"
"Food, and then," She wagged the nail polish, "I'm painting your nails, you too Tenya!"
"What?" Tenya looked horrified, "You're going to paint my nails black? Why?"
"Well, I kinda thought, you know, since we're the class weirdos-"
"I am not a weirdo!"
"- and that since two of us here can't help the whole black fingernail thing-"
Izuku and Fumikage shared baffled glances.
"- that we should all paint our nails black! You know, for solidarity!" And she punched the air with a grin, "Standing tall and proud with our collective weirdo-ness!"
This announcement was met with a long spate of silence from the boys before Fumikage coughed and quietly announced, "I- erm- I paint my nails black because I- well- It's part of my look."
Ochaco blinked, "Wait, it's not because of Dark Shadow?"
"No, they have no effect on my physical appearance."
Ochaco looked like the wind had been taken right out of her sails, "Oh."
"We cannot help the unlight gathering at our fingertips," Nemesis announced with what could only be described as a sort of shrug through Izuku's scars, "But we suppose the gesture is appreciated. Solidarity with allies is a worthy trait."
"Nemesis appreciates the gesture, and I do too," Izuku quickly announced with a small smile, "But I- erm-"
"I'm game," Hitoshi suddenly cut in, "But not now, I mean, why don't you do it before we leave for the internships, that way we've all got a little secret sign or something."
"Really?" The teenaged girl quickly brightened up, her eyes sparkling.
"Sure," Hitoshi shrugged then looked to Tenya, "You down, motor-legs?"
Tenya frowned for a moment before sighing, "I suppose. My brother will no doubt mock me, but in the name of solidarity, I can make an exception. Besides he is more inclined to rebellious phases than I am, and he does keep telling me to lighten up and try new things."
"This is more like darkening up," Izuku couldn't help but jab.
"That sounds weirdly racist," Hitoshi chuckled.
"What! No- I-"
This was only met by a quick round of laughter from the others, and Izuku found it was his turn to blush suddenly while his tail swished anxiously, and another spike of candle-flame flickered through him. For just the smallest of seconds, he feared they were laughing at him, but then their laugher faded to good-natured smiles and they began to move as a group with Ochaco glancing to Izuku and adding, "Come on, let's go get something to eat, I'm starving."
The fear vanished, and he nodded.
They weren't laughing at him, not in the same way others had laughed at him all his life. They were laughing with him, or rather, they were teasing because they liked him, not because he was weird or creepy or different. And it was a feeling that even after months of experiencing he still wasn't used to. He wondered if he'd ever truly get used to it. Maybe he was too old to change at this point, being the positively ancient age of fourteen.
But he wanted to change. Izuku wanted to change a lot about his life, most of it the bad stuff. To not fear the laughter and smiles of others when they were directed his way was certainly on that list.
"So, erm, where do you want to eat?" The teenager asked with a slight caution to his tone, "I mean, anywhere is fine by me."
"How's chicken? Anyone want chicken?"
"I'm a vegetarian," Fumikage replied sharply, narrowing his eyes at Hitoshi.
"Oh, right, 'cos cannibalism is bad and wrong."
This received a round of chuckles from everyone who wasn't Fumikage, who seemed to react much as Izuku had done before relaxing a little, sighing, and rolling his eyes.
"There's a fantastic Vietnamese place right down the road," Tenya suggested.
"That's expensive!" Came the immediate whine from Ochaco, "Suggest somewhere cheap!"
"Well, what about-" Hitoshi was about to continue before his phone suddenly buzzed in his pocket, "One sec."
"Bloaties Pizza is cheap."
"But disgusting."
"But it's cheap."
"We should eat something nutritious! As U.A. students we shouldn't sully our diet with fast food!"
"But it's cheap."
Izuku would have added to the heated debate but his eyes had turned to Hitoshi who had fallen quiet and dropped a step behind the group. His eyes were fixed to his phone and the frown across his exhaustion-ringed eyes seemed to be growing ever deeper.
Just as they stepped out of the swishing shopping center doors, the sudden waft of hot air hitting them like a smack to the face, Izuku stopped within the shade.
"Hitoshi? Is everything alright?"
The boy looked up suddenly, his eyes wide with shock before he masked it with a quick drop of his shoulders. He even went to raise a hand up to scratch the back of his neck before he suddenly caught himself and lowered it back down. He also swiftly clicked his phone closed and shoved it into his pocket. "What? Oh, sure, just my parents asking where I am."
"You sure?" The others had stopped now, and Ochaco's tone had taken on a softer air.
"Oh, yeah, seriously, they worry about me," He shrugged and began walking forwards, the air of casual, controlled confidence he always surrounded himself with returning like a well-worn cloak, "Probably because my insomnia's been acting up so-"
"I know the feeling," Fumikage added with a nod as the group began walking forward once again, "Grandfather texts me often."
"Exactly," Hitoshi shot a quick smile, which for him was really a twitch of the lips, "Nothing to worry about."
And with that being the end of that, the group walked on to find food and entertainment elsewhere, even if, for the rest of the day, Izuku had the nagging feeling that there was something bothering Hitoshi.
But this was a day of chillaxing and relaxing, and as such, he did his best to push it to the back of his mind.
The train rattled and Hitoshi swayed. It was mostly empty, after all, no one was really taking the train out of the city at this time of day. There were a couple of smartly dressed businesspeople standing about, a small gang of school kids laughing on the far end of the carriage and nothing else.
Hitoshi, of course, sat alone. He had his headphones in but he wasn't listening to anything in particular, just whatever happened to pop up from the playlist on his phone.
The battery was starting to run under fifty-percent, though he had been using it constantly for the last hour or so.
An hour he had spent waiting around, trying to avoid human contact and trying not to think how he had lied to all his friends and his parents about where he was. While they had all gone back to their homes, he had only pretended to do so and had backtracked soon after.
He had to, after all, the message had been very specific in its meet-up time.
His eyes drifted to the kids and he watched as they laughed and toyed with one another. A tiny smile twitched at the corner of his mouth before he turned his eyes away.
He would have liked to have memories that nice. He'd had never had friends though. He had classmates, sure, but not friends. Not people who would come to his house after school and hang out. Not people who would willingly go to his birthday parties without their parents forcing them.
He had them now though, friends, good friends even, friends who trusted him. It only made the sting of lying to them even worse.
Hitoshi shoved the thoughts down. This was… different though. He knew this was different, it had to be.
After all, he didn't get a text like this every day.
But why? Why him? Why now? What had he done to draw this kind of attention? He was just… he was just him. The weirdo kid who could steal people's thoughts and actions and bend them to his will. He was the outcast kid who no one wanted to talk to, who people had written off as a future villain from the moment they knew what he could do.
So why this?
Hitoshi looked down again to the phone in his hand and for the millionth time read the message that had popped onto his screen what felt like a thousand years ago. The words had already been burned into his brain, and yet, he read over and over, looking for anything that could possibly give it away as a prank or a trap of some kind. He saw nothing and, after all, he also had a picture as proof of the message's claim.
He closed his phone and tilted his head back, letting it fall against the increasingly chilly window. His heart beat steady, though there was a nervousness to his brain and stomach that he couldn't push away.
He breathed out slowly through his nose.
He didn't know why this was happening to him and not someone else but he supposed the only way he would know why was to go. Hitoshi had never thought himself someone who would run from a fight and he had hoped he had proven that by now.
Whatever this was he would face it head-on with everything he had.
Because that's what a true hero would do.
Izuku should have known something was up from the moment he walked into the dining room.
Several hours ago, the group had settled on some light noodle-stand meal, which suited Izuku just fine as he and Fumikage both had veered away from the Bloaties Pizza place Ochaco had almost pulled them into. The bloated, vaguely humanoid unborn monster seated within that seemed to be saturating itself on "the unseen greed and gluttony of the curse of fast food", as Fumikage had put it, had really robbed him of his appetite.
Thankfully the simple charm of the noodle stand had brought it back. Besides, Tenya had also insisted they support small businesses over major conglomerates.
It also helped that before he had sat down his mother had sent him a message telling him that they would be ordering in food tonight and celebrating his 'amazing performance' in the festival. Izuku had rolled his eyes at this. His mother was trying too hard to make up for her clear lying to him, it was obvious.
He didn't want any more platitudes of how well he was doing, he wanted honesty, and until she gave it to him he wasn't prepared to do anything more than make the most casual of small talk with her.
Yes, it was cruel and hurtful, but being told he was crazy for ten years and then finding out he actually wasn't was also just as cruel and hurtful.
They had then spent the rest of the day walking around, buying some supplies for school, Izuku had gotten himself some fireproof shoes and some more flip flops, checking out various stores, and looking at the newest hero merchandise that none of them could really afford but was cool to look at anyway.
It had felt bizarrely weird to be doing normal people things. Things that Izuku had been sure had been placed forever out of his reach the moment his curse had shown up.
And yet it had been nice. It had been relaxing, and even with his arm and other wounds still healing he hadn't felt exhausted by the time he got home. If anything he felt envigored. Even Nemesis had behaved itself, though it had growled at several of the unborn they had seen, as well as constantly, though thankfully unheard by the others, sniped at Fumikage the entire day.
He had been home for a few hours before his mother had called him for dinner. He came out of the eternal gloom of his bedroom to find a plate of katsudon, ordered from his favorite place to eat, sitting on the table. The smell of the pork mixing with the sauce causing his stomach to rumble and for a moment a big, stupid grin became plastered across his face.
And yet as he looked over to his mother, who was still setting up her side of the table, his paranoia jumped to one of two conclusions. Either that his mother was planning something or that she was doing this as a show that she actually did love and care about him and that she was happy for his show in the festival.
He didn't have much time to dwell on these thoughts however, as the moment she spotted him she rushed over and began hurrying him into his chair.
Her meal was shrimp and vegetable tempura bowl, her own personal favorite and it was equally as mouthwatering, though Izuku had never been one for shrimp.
She had set everything out herself and even poured him a glass of coke, which had surprised Izuku. She never usually went that far in her meal preparations. Nemesis moved with a somewhat suspicious candle-flame through his scars and it seemed to be just as on edge as Izuku himself.
The moment they started dinner Inko began talking. And she talked, and talked, and talked. Izuku had barely gotten a few words in, both because she wouldn't stop babbling and because it was kind of hard to cut up a meal using only one arm while his other, still healing arm, was kept in its sling.
Yet despite his trepidations, the meal was absolutely delicious and having something solid in his stomach did help relax his mood. He knew, logically, she was buttering him up for something, though what he had no idea.
But it was a very good buttering, so he would enjoy it for as long as he could.
It was towards the end of the meal when everything started going south.
"- and you know if I call them, Izuku, I'm going to let them know that I think you should have won that match," She waved a breaded shrimp at him, "You were robbed! And I'm sick of seeing you get robbed."
"Mhmm," Izuku was busy trying to cut a piece of pork in two with his fork.
"Really! Izuku-" Her voice suddenly dropped a few tones and she frowned over at her son, "Izuku, listen to me for a minute."
The boy stopped his eternal struggle with his meal and looked up to his mother. His eyes went wide and something in his heart seemed to hesitate. "Huh?"
"I'm trying to tell you something," She pressed, the frown still on her face before it softened slowly, "I- I mean," She paused and took a slow breath through her nose, looking away, "I meant it, you know. I'm tired of seeing you get the short end of the stick. And I know I'm partially to blame for it."
Izuku slowly let the fork fall to clink softly against his bowl. His hunger was vanishing and instead something new was dawning within him. This was why she had been buttering him up, this was why she had brought all the food.
His heart again quivered within his chest.
"You've spent your whole life fighting, Izuku, every second of it, trying to achieve your dream of being a hero, of overcoming your power," She sniffed and smiled, though it was a sad smile, "And I'm so proud of you. I'm so, so proud of you. And after watching you in the tournament, after seeing all that hard work paying off and how far you went-"
"Mom, I really didn't," Izuku quickly tried to cover for himself, "I mean I won on flukes and-"
"Nonsense," Inko quickly snapped, "You tripped up, yes, but that didn't matter. What mattered is that in each round you gave it your all, son. And you didn't- I mean- you didn't let Nemesis get control. You fought with all your heart and kept yourself together and you did, and no one can ever take that from you. But it's more than that. You were almost taken from me, Izuku. And I think about that every day. I think about what I should have done and said to prevent it from ever happening. All the mistakes I made that caused you to- well-"
Izuku wasn't sure what to make of this. He felt guarded. He felt encouraged. He felt as though two sides of himself were clashing and brawling within his heart. He wanted to believe her words, and yet, with everything he knew she was keeping from him, "I-"
"And you know, I know you still have problems with Nemesis. You died Izuku, and yet you still keep fighting for your own life, even though I know every day is a struggle." Again, she seemed to pause and take a deep breath, "And I- I feel as though… Maybe that's partly my fault. No, no it's not partly my fault. It is my fault."
Izuku felt his skin run cold, despite the flowing warmth of his inner fire. Nemesis moved through his scars, hot and yet not cruel. It was never cruel to Inko, though it had shared Izuku's anger towards her in the last few weeks.
"Izuku I-" She paused, took a quick drink of her water, and straightened herself up, looking her son directly in the eyes. "I think it's time we talked. Really talked. About- about everything. About your power, about you, and about…" Her jaw tightened and he could see a tremor run through her shoulders, "And about your father."
His father.
The words caused Izuku's eyes to grow wide and his own body to shake from a sudden anxious, almost fearful apprehension and even his tail seemed to stop its almost constant swaying. The world felt slightly dreamlike as if he had stepped into some extremely vivid hallucination. Yet he knew this was no trick, no dream he could just wake up out of. The smell of the food, the taste of it still lingering on his tongue, the heat in his scars and the ache in his wounds were all too real.
Inko didn't seem sure on how to take her son's obvious reaction, and as such, she similarly hesitated before adding, "Would you- would you like to-"
"Tell me," Izuku's words came from his mouth before he even knew he was speaking, and if it hadn't been for the shake in his tone, he would have sworn it had been more Nemesis than himself, "I- I want to know, mom." His hurt hand clenched, and he used the pain to anchor his thoughts, "I want to know everything."
Inko nodded to her child. "Alright, well- I-" She paused for another moment, breathing through her nose and nodding, "Izuku, before I tell you, just know that what I'm about to tell you is true, alright? And I also want you to know that I- well- I don't know everything. He never really told me," She shook her head and frowned, "I was stupid, so stupid, I should have-" She breathed out again and looked back to her son, "It started years ago, before you were born, obviously."
She moved, linking her hands together and resting her chin on them, her eyes drifting to her mostly-finished meal as she spoke, "When I was a young woman, a few years older than you are now, I was involved in a car accident. My middle, my abdomen I mean, was very badly damaged, and I even had to have a stomach transplant, but they couldn't- well, they told me I would never have children." Her fingers tightened, "I was devastated. Devastated, Izuku." She sniffed slightly and blinked back the hint of tears, "I had never really wanted much out of life. Just to be a good wife and a good mother."
Izuku clenched his hurt hand again, and behind him his tail curled with nerves. She had never told him anything like this before, and the information was sitting heavy and ugly inside him. His hands felt clammy and cold, and the food before him no longer smelled delicious but somehow rancid and sickening.
"I tried whatever I could but I- Nothing worked." Her expression suddenly became focused, "I was starting to consider adoption but then he showed up." She chewed her lip for a second, and old anger entered her tone, "He gave me an offer, told me he could give me the child I wanted, told me he'd give me anything I wanted," She shook her head, "He was so charming, Izuku. So charming and handsome and- and I just fell for his every word. He made me believe that anything was possible."
Izuku felt ice collecting in his heart. Ice and fire, swirling and clashing. His tail fwipped a little harder.
"And when I fell pregnant with you, I was just- it was like he had performed a miracle," She suddenly frowned deeper, "No. No, it wasn't that, I just told myself that because it let me sleep easier at night. He told me he would stay with me, you know. He told me we would raise you together. He told me you would change the world." She smiled a little bit at that, "I still believe that one. Everything seemed to be going just fine, and then..."
"And then?" Izuku's tone was harsh, harsher than he truly felt and yet it was exactly how he felt because he had no idea what was happening to him on the inside.
"I went into labor, and I gave birth to you, my wonderful angel of a child. But when he held you, he took one look at you, whispered something in your ear, and left," Inko's statement was flat and blunt and her gaze snapped to meet Izuku's, "And I never saw him again. It was like a spell had broken over me. It was like suddenly I could see him for the snake that he was. Everything he had told me was a lie, and-"
"Who was he?" Izuku's statement shook from the churning fire he felt gathering inside him. "What was his name?"
"His name?" Inko blinked, "Well he goes by-"
"His true name, Mom." He spoke the words like a bullet being fired from a gun.
Inko had jolted back at the sudden tone, and for a second a fear crossed her eyes. She breathed deep and put her hands flat onto the table. "His true name, as he told me, is Lucifer, King of Hell."
OKAY SO BEFORE YOU GUYS MURDER ME LEMME EXPLAIN. Originally this chapter WAS going to have ALL the revelations, but I also didn't want to cut that opening section with Izuku and his crew hanging out, or with Shoto, because 1: I never show Izuku just having fun and 2: Shoto scene is important for later on. So yes, sorry, most of the big reveal stuff is explained and explored next chapter. Again, super sorry, but the story flow works out a lot better this way.
And in other news, Hitoshi is on a train going... somewhere? It's a plot train. To plotsville.
And finally, does anyone have thoughts on who Izuku is gonna mentor with? Taking all bets now!
Thank you guys for reading and hopefully y'all ain't too mad at me! Till next update!
